Falsely Accused, I Started Plundering Monster Traits

"You’re the Hero?"

"Yeah. I’m the Hero."

The investigator nodded and wrote it down.

The folder on the table bore the emblem of the Earth Federation Federal Security Directorate. Countries had disappeared long before Lin Yan was born; the old names survived in history, geography and culture, while the modern world had long since been divided into administrative regions beneath a single federal government.

Apparently, that government now had a file with his name on it.

The investigator checked the next item.

"Gender identity?"

Lin Yan frowned. "Can’t you tell? I’m a man."

"The recordings currently available to us show that you repeatedly identified yourself as—"

"Okay, okay, stop." Lin Yan raised a hand. "Male. I’m male. That’s it."

The investigator paused.

"Sex: male. Gender identity: male?"

"Yes."

"Understood."

He moved on.

That had been the pattern throughout the interview. Lin Yan answered what he wanted to answer, and when he didn’t, they didn’t push. He liked that.

The investigator closed the folder halfway. "Before we finish, do you have any immediate needs?"

"Food."

"That can be arranged."

Lin Yan’s expression improved immediately. He waited until the investigator had actually entered the request into his tablet before adding, "What about money?"

The man’s finger stopped.

"Money?"

Lin Yan pointed at himself. "I’m the Hero. Doesn’t that come with some kind of special treatment?"

"There is currently no standardized compensation policy for convergence participants."

Lin Yan stared at him.

"What the fuck?"

The investigator opened his mouth.

"I kept fourteen people alive, killed the thing running that place, cleared the first convergence on Earth, and you’re telling me I don’t even get paid?"

"However—"

"I’m the first fucking Hero on the planet."

"Mr. Lin."

"What?"

"An emergency assistance payment of one thousand dollars has already been authorized."

Lin Yan went quiet.

"...A thousand?"

"Yes."

His expression twisted again. "What is that, a fucking tip?"

"Emergency assistance."

"You’re giving the first Hero on Earth a thousand bucks like I found somebody’s wallet and turned it in."

"It is not your final compensation."

Lin Yan stopped.

"...Oh."

"Any formal reward will be determined separately."

He immediately leaned back.

"You should’ve started with that."

"You didn’t let me finish."

"Fair."

They spent another few minutes establishing the only arrangement Lin Yan was willing to accept. The Federation could contact him for information concerning convergences and, if something happened that he could actually assist with, they could ask. Lin Yan made it equally clear that ask was the important word.

He wasn’t joining anything or taking orders. If helping them cost him time, money or exposed him to danger, compensation could be discussed when the situation arose.

The investigator accepted that without argument.

"One final matter. Your identity as the recipient of the Hero title will remain classified for the time being. Every surviving participant has signed a confidentiality agreement covering your identity and other restricted details of the incident."

"All of them?"

"All of them."

"The three I punched?"

"All of them, Mr. Lin."

"Impressive."

The door opened before the investigator could respond.

A young woman walked in carrying two large McDonald’s bags.

Lin Yan’s attention immediately shifted to her.

She looked barely past twenty. Her tawny-brown hair was cut short and layered, with long, tousled bangs falling across her forehead and a face that still carried the lingering softness of someone only recently out of her teens.

Below the neck was another matter.

A dark business suit covered her from collar to wrist, buttoned properly and revealing almost nothing, yet it still couldn’t hide how good her figure was. The contrast between that slightly immature face, the short hair and the distinctly feminine shape beneath the suit was almost unfair.

If a tomboy covered up every obvious female characteristic and you could still tell at a glance that she was a woman, then her femininity was maxed out.

This one was ridiculous.

A woman among women.

A female among females.

What kind of underhanded bullshit was this?

His eyes, unfortunately, refused to cooperate. He kept staring until Claire seemed to notice, a faint blush gradually appearing on her cheeks and softening that already youthful face even further.

Lin Yan liked her even more.

...Fuck.

He finally forced his attention back to the investigator.

"I use incognito every single time."

The investigator frowned. "What?"

"You people can still find that?"

"Find what?"

Lin Yan opened his mouth, then realized that answering would require explaining exactly what he used incognito mode for.

"...Nothing."

The investigator’s expression suggested that Lin Yan had just given him something else to put in the report.

The woman placed the McDonald’s bags on the table.

"Breakfast."

Lin Yan opened one. Egg McMuffins, hash browns, hotcakes, a carton of fries still hot from the fryer, and a cup of vanilla soft serve—enough breakfast for several people.

He picked up one of the fries and pushed the tip into the still-cold ice cream before taking a bite.

Hot, crisp potato with just enough salt, followed immediately by cold vanilla sweetness. Salty and sweet, hot and cold—the two contrasts hit at once.

Lin Yan’s eyes narrowed in satisfaction.

Claire glanced at him.

Lin Yan dipped another fry. "What?"

"Nothing."

He took another bite.

Her loss.

She offered him her hand. "Claire Morgan. I’ll be your primary liaison for the time being. It’s nice to meet you."

Lin Yan shook it.

Shameless.

Absolutely fucking shameless.

"Nice to meet you too."

His hand, apparently, had no objection to federal corruption.

His phone vibrated.

+$1,000.00

Lin Yan looked at the transfer, then at the McDonald’s in front of him, and finally at Claire.

Money, food, and a liaison who looked like that.

Lin Yan suddenly understood why governments preferred recruitment to kidnapping.

Who the hell was supposed to say no to this?

Claire drove him home a little after eight while Lin Yan sat in the passenger seat finishing what remained of breakfast.

Looking back, the whole process had been almost disturbingly comfortable. No screaming, no threats, no one trying to force answers out of him. He answered what he wanted, refused what he didn’t, and they simply moved on. Then came food, money and a ride home.

Thinking about it, there was no reason for them to do otherwise. Most of the things they wanted to know about Lin Yan didn’t require his cooperation in the first place.

In the internet age, almost everything a person did left traces somewhere—addresses, employment records, purchases, bank activity, traffic violations, old accounts, network activity. Give an organization like this enough access and enough reason to investigate one person, and there probably wasn’t much they couldn’t dig up on their own.

Lin Yan glanced at Claire.

Still.

I fucking used incognito.

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